Chapter Summaries

Roland arrived in Mifune City to pursue a ritual that depended on fated encounters, and his pull toward the arcane led him to a girl facing two delinquents. After killing the delinquents, Roland tested the girl and told her she had passed, then asked whether she believed in gravity.

• Roland came to Mifune City after returning from the world of Danmachi and wandered without searching deliberately for his ritual’s target.
• Roland felt an inexplicable force drawing him into a dark alley, where a quiet middle-school girl stood between two delinquents.
• The girl’s eerie, indifferent gaze unsettled the lead delinquent, and both men abandoned their attempt to prey on her.
• Roland entered the alley and killed the two delinquents, leaving the girl unharmed and his clothes spotless.
• Roland tugged the girl’s cheek, told her she had passed his test, and asked, “Do you believe in gravity?”

Roland took Fujino Asagami from the blood-soaked alley and learned that she could not feel pain. When she injured her palm, his question awakened the sensation of pain in her, and he introduced himself as Roland and asked her to be his friend.

• Roland questioned Fujino Asagami and led her out of the alley, where shadows erased the bloody scene.
• Fujino feared that returning home would bring punishment and leave her with nowhere to belong.
• Fujino pinched and then wounded herself, but felt nothing until Roland asked whether it hurt.
• Fujino felt pain for the first time, gripped Roland's hand, and told him, "It hurts."
• Roland said that what was lost could return if she prayed to him, introduced himself, and asked to be her friend.

Roland returned to Kirei Kotomine and learned that completing the Heaven Ascension Ritual required forging unusual bonds that would embed his fate in the world. He traveled to Mifune City and approached Fujino Asagami, offering to cure her illnesses in exchange for everything she had.

• Kirei Kotomine welcomed Roland in the church and gave him his completed notes on the Heaven Ascension Ritual.
• Roland learned that the ritual required thirty-six powerful evil souls, secret phrases, and enough bonds to make the world's fate support his ascent.
• Kirei Kotomine explained that demonic beings could form the necessary bonds, and that Sakura Matou, Illya, and Caren already showed promise.
• Roland left for Mifune City to seek suitable encounters and bonds.
• Roland told Fujino Asagami that she could not refuse his request, then offered to cure every illness in her body as compensation.

Roland revealed that Fujino Asagami’s family had suppressed her senses to seal her Mystic Eyes of Distortion, then restored her ability to feel pain by healing her. Fujino accepted her intense attachment to Roland, who planned to find her Mystic Eye Killers and deal with the Asagami family.

• Roland explained that Fujino’s diminished senses came from neuromyelitis optica and that her family had used drugs to suppress her Mystic Eyes of Distortion.
• Roland identified Fujino’s eyes as jewel-class Mystic Eyes that could distort physical objects and potentially intangible things.
• Roland stabbed Fujino through the abdomen to treat her appendicitis and remove the drugs’ effects, and her body rapidly regenerated as her sense of pain returned.
• Fujino embraced her feelings for Roland and offered to be his possession, slave, or faithful dog.
• Roland promised to handle the Asagami family and take Fujino to find custom Mystic Eye Killers from a specialist in the city.

Roland restored Fujino Asagami’s Mystic Eyes of Distortion, took her into his care, and brought her to his villa, where she met Mana Ouma and Aestus Estus. After searching for Touko Aozaki, Roland found her workshop, Garan no Dou, and arrived to commission her work.

• Fujino Asagami’s Mystic Eyes erupted after Roland healed her nerves, and Roland calmed her and explained how the power worked.
• Fujino pledged herself to Roland, who planned to transfer her guardianship and take over the Asagami family’s assets.
• Roland introduced Fujino to Mana Ouma and Aestus Estus at his villa, then discussed taking Mana along on his plans for the next day.
• Roland transferred Fujino’s ownership and spent the day searching Mifune City for Touko Aozaki while shopping with Mana.
• Roland found Touko Aozaki in the abandoned building complex housing Garan no Dou, and she welcomed him and asked what he wanted to commission.

Roland commissioned Touko Aozaki to make the highest-grade Mystic Eye Killers and then asked her to introduce him to unusual young female mages. Touko rejected the second request, but Roland offered her a jar of precious gemstones as a deposit, leaving her to reconsider.

• Roland asked Touko Aozaki to craft the highest-grade Mystic Eye Killers and offered double her fee for faster completion without compromising quality.
• Touko Aozaki accepted the commission and agreed to settle the payment later with Roland’s second request.
• Roland asked Touko Aozaki to introduce him to suitable young female mages with demonic and twisted aptitudes and personalities.
• Touko Aozaki took offense at the request and prepared to send Roland away.
• A Shadow Ninja brought out a jar of precious gemstones, which Roland offered Touko Aozaki as a deposit for the second commission.

Touko Aozaki negotiated with Roland over a second commission, then tested his power and witnessed Mana Ouma overwhelm her puppets. Roland brought one of Touko’s blank puppets to life before leaving, while Touko agreed to complete the first commission and kept considering the second.

• Roland offered Touko Aozaki a deposit, a lost treasure, and a promise in exchange for completing a second commission, but she asked for time to decide.
• Touko Aozaki offered to waive the first commission’s deposit and deliver her decision when she completed it, and Roland withdrew the gems.
• Touko Aozaki animated her puppets to test Roland, but Mana Ouma appeared and unleashed a Holy Grail’s locusts to immobilize them.
• Touko Aozaki agreed to complete the first commission as punishment for her rudeness and promised to provide the Mystic Eye Killers within a week.
• Roland gave life to one of Touko Aozaki’s blank puppets for about a day, then left with Mana Ouma.
• Touko Aozaki watched the living puppet explore her workshop and wondered whether Roland’s second commission involved a practitioner of True Magic and a Miss Witch.

Roland encountered Araya Souren and realized Shiki Ryougi was the figure whose presence had altered the expected timeline. He continued toward her while Mana Ouma stayed behind to stop Araya, leaving the two poised to fight.

• Roland recognized Araya Souren watching him and wondered why the monk had appeared before the expected events in Mifune City.
• Roland inferred that Araya was reacting to Shiki Ryougi’s changed condition and that she was nearby, then told Mana Ouma to prevent him from interfering.
• Araya warned Roland that they were temporarily aligned in preventing interference with Shiki, but Roland declared himself outside that order and continued onward.
• Mana Ouma promised to clear the way for Roland and attacked Araya with her Void Chainsaw.
• Araya blocked the blow with a Barrier, but the impact broke his ribs, injured his organs, and mangled his right hand as Mana Ouma prepared to strike again.

Roland met {Shiki Ryougi}, the Root-connected future personality who explained how he could reshape his Heaven Ascension Ritual through time and begin it before gathering all thirty-six souls. After she fell asleep, the ordinary Shiki Ryougi woke in his arms, blushing.

• Roland encountered {Shiki Ryougi} in the snowy streets of Mifune City and recognized her as an existence connected to the Root.
• {Shiki Ryougi} explained that she was Roland's future bond manifested in the present and that he needed to carry his present and future into the past.
• {Shiki Ryougi} told Roland that his ritual could use the paradoxical nature of his Fourth Bomb and proceed in stages rather than following the traditional sequence.
• {Shiki Ryougi} explained that finding the first soul to sacrifice would let Roland begin the ritual's second stage and advance his past bonds.
• {Shiki Ryougi} revealed that Roland had traded the chance to complete Shiki for her continued existence, then fell asleep in his arms.
• Shiki Ryougi woke up close to Roland and blushed.

Shiki Ryougi dreamed of SHIKI's death and Roland claiming the other personality as part of himself, then woke in Roland's arms. She used her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to confirm she could not see Roland's death and introduced herself to him as Shiki.

• Shiki Ryougi recalled how SHIKI had died to ensure her survival and how Roland had taken SHIKI into himself.
• In the dream, Roland told Shiki to kill freely and promised to bear the sins for her.
• Shiki woke in Roland's embrace, touched his face to test whether the dream was real, and became embarrassed when he pointed out she was pinching him.
• Shiki opened her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and saw death lines on the people and things around her.
• Shiki looked at Roland and could not see his death because the concept of death did not exist within him.
• Shiki stepped toward Roland, accepted his embrace, and asked him to call her Shiki.

Roland brought Shiki Ryougi home after she recovered from overloading her Mystic Eyes, while Mana Ouma battled Araya Souren and left him badly injured. Mana returned to find Shiki with Roland, recognized their profound connection, and acted to challenge her.

• Roland checked Shiki Ryougi's condition, and she said she had limited her experience of the future and would recover after resting.
• Shiki agreed to go home with Roland, who messaged Mana Ouma through their merged AT Fields before taking her with him.
• Mana Ouma overwhelmed Araya Souren with her attacks, shattered his Barriers, and severed his left arm while crystal spread through his wounds.
• Mana left Araya alive when she sensed Roland calling her home, and Araya decided to repair his body and advance his plan involving Shiki.
• Mana returned to Roland's house, found Shiki beside him, and recognized their connection as rivaling Eve and Adam's bond.
• Mana embraced Roland and challenged Shiki with her gaze before expressing her stance through action.

Roland reconciled with Mana Ouma and discussed Araya Souren’s strange, Origin-consumed nature, then realized the first soul sacrificed in the Heaven ritual would need to be a significant choice. Araya Souren revealed to Cornelius Alba that an Executor had volunteered as a replacement pawn and come to him on his own.

• Mana Ouma confronted Roland over Shiki Ryougi, but Roland reassured her by expressing his love, then also confessed to Shiki Ryougi and Fujino Asagami.
• Mana Ouma described how Araya Souren endured severe injuries and wielded a seemingly endless Barrier, while Roland promised Shiki Ryougi she could kill him herself.
• Roland realized that sacrificing the first soul was necessary to begin the Heaven ritual’s second stage and wondered whether the chosen person would appear on his own.
• Cornelius Alba confronted Araya Souren about losing pawns and failing to complete his Barrier plan.
• Araya Souren told Cornelius Alba that an Executor from the Holy Church would replace a pawn, and that the man had come to him of his own accord.

Araya Souren told Cornelius Alba that Kirei Kotomine had awakened his origin of taboo and allowed Alba to approach him. Alba demanded details about a dangerous visitor to Touko Aozaki’s workshop, while Araya concealed what he knew and continued building the Barrier to delay the being pursuing him.

• Araya Souren explained to Alba that Kirei Kotomine had volunteered, awakened his origin, and would eventually be consumed by his nature.
• Alba asked what ability Kirei’s origin granted him, and Araya admitted he did not know because he had avoided approaching Kirei.
• Alba learned that Kirei was in the Ujou Building and then asked whether anything unusual had happened at Touko Aozaki’s workshop.
• Araya told Alba that an unknown, dangerous visitor had briefly met Touko, but advised against making contact because the visitor’s background was unclear.
• Alba angrily demanded a description of the visitor, while Araya withheld part of the truth and let Alba leave as a pawn in his plan.
• Araya returned his attention to constructing the Barrier, hoping it would delay the being pursuing him.

Roland took Fujino Asagami out to practice her Mystic Eyes of Distortion, but their training was interrupted by Cornelius Alba, who attacked them with ether slimes. Fujino destroyed the monsters with her eyes, while Roland mocked Alba before the confrontation could continue.

• Roland woke beside Mana Ouma, then learned that Shiki Ryougi had left the house until evening.
• Roland took Fujino Asagami to an abandoned area in Mifune City to practice her Mystic Eyes on a building.
• Cornelius Alba blasted through a wall and summoned ether slimes to attack Roland and Fujino.
• Roland encouraged Fujino to use her Mystic Eyes against the monsters, and she twisted them apart.
• Alba boasted about the slimes, but Roland questioned their usefulness and called him a clown with no taste.

Roland defeated Araya Souren and discovered that a hidden command had been implanted in him, then left him to turn into stone. Kirei Kotomine arrived, retrieved Araya’s knowledge and memories, and used him in a ritual connected to Roland and a new world.

• Roland mocked Araya Souren’s resentment of Touko Aozaki and challenged him to attack while Roland walked toward him.
• Araya Souren unleashed repeated bursts of magical fire, but Roland remained unharmed and moved in to extract his soul.
• A disc emerged from Araya Souren’s head, and Roland realized he had been made into a letter carrying a command; Roland left with Fujino Asagami as Araya began turning to stone.
• Kirei Kotomine appeared, retrieved two discs containing Araya Souren’s knowledge and memories, and declared that Araya would become a cornerstone of his plan.
• Kirei Kotomine implanted another disc in Araya Souren, who sang Hallelujah as Kirei praised Roland and vowed to awaken him.

Shiki Ryougi retrieved the Kuji Kanesada and raced Roland toward Araya Souren’s stronghold, killing Rio Shirazumi along the way. Roland then confronted Kirie Fujou, who blocked his path as he began explaining how he had found her.

• Shiki Ryougi met Roland while carrying the Kuji Kanesada, and they agreed to race toward Araya Souren’s stronghold, each taking a different opponent.
• Rio Shirazumi fled in terror after encountering Roland, who had overwhelmed him with a vision of The End.
• Shiki Ryougi confronted Rio Shirazumi and killed him with a single sword strike.
• Roland encountered Kirie Fujou, who blocked his route and silently questioned how he could float and find her.
• Roland told Kirie Fujou that Stand Users attracted one another.

Roland took Kirie Fujou’s Double Existence power, revived her, and began shaping it into the foundation of his first ritual. After surviving a fall together, Kirie asked him to make paradise come into being, and Roland led her toward a new home with the power disc he had taken from her.

• Roland met Kirie Fujou on the Ujou Building rooftop and recognized the value of her ability to control two bodies through her spirit and flesh.
• Roland reunited Kirie’s spirit with her hospitalized body and asked why she longed for the sky; she said she sought a world she would not hate.
• Roland revealed that he pursued happiness by looking down on the despairing and declared that he would take Kirie’s power.
• Roland jumped with Kirie from the hospital, and they struck the ground unharmed through his powers of immortality and healing.
• Kirie asked Roland to bring paradise into being, and a disc containing her power emerged from her forehead.
• Roland took the disc and Kirie’s hand, then led her toward a new home.

Shiki Ryougi waited for Roland after defeating Rio Shirazumi, then prepared to confront Araya Souren inside the powerful Barrier fused with Ogawa Apartment. As Roland proposed breaking its foundation with overwhelming external force, Kirei Kotomine refused to join Araya, and Roland’s strange explosive vehicles began tearing the apartment apart.

• Shiki Ryougi told Roland she had won, and he embraced her before she drew Kujikanesada and faced Ogawa Apartment.
• Roland explained that Araya Souren had fused himself with the apartment to create a Barrier and said overwhelming external force could destroy its foundation.
• Araya Souren told Kirei Kotomine that he hated humanity and sought to end the world so every death would receive meaning.
• Kirei Kotomine rejected Araya Souren’s ideal, named its guiding rule as “The resolved are ever happy,” and refused to assist him.
• Araya Souren tried to kill Kirei Kotomine, but a skull-marked toy vehicle appeared and called out to him.
• More explosive vehicles emerged throughout the apartment, and their blasts tore through the building and illuminated the night.

Kirei Kotomine used an Origin Bullet to briefly disrupt Araya Souren and activate a ritual built into the Six Paths Barrier. He revealed that his Stand, Whitesnake, could steal memories and abilities, leaving Araya facing a ritual Kirei had prepared with stolen knowledge.

• Araya Souren used the Six Paths Barrier to preserve the shattered apartment building from the explosion, though maintaining it weakened his defenses and injured him.
• Kirei Kotomine emerged unharmed and attacked Araya with Black Keys, but Araya deflected them and advanced, confident in his close-combat advantage.
• Kirei fired an Origin Bullet that twisted Araya's Magic Circuits and briefly disrupted his control of the Barrier.
• Kirei revealed that he had used the moment of disruption to awaken a secondary ritual within Araya's Barrier, exploiting its corpses, dolls, and sixty-four souls.
• Kirei explained that his Stand, Whitesnake, could dissolve and steal memories and abilities, then manifested behind him as Araya realized someone had helped Kirei understand the Barrier.

Kirei Kotomine sacrificed himself to complete Roland’s final DISC, while Araya Souren killed him and learned too late that Kirei had intended to die. Roland arrived with the DISC and asked Shiki Ryougi to kill Araya Souren as his farewell to Kirei, and Shiki found the monk’s death point.

• Kirei Kotomine explained his devotion to Roland and used Heaven’s Eye to attack Araya Souren, but Araya crushed his heart and declared the ritual over.
• As he died, Kirei revealed that his sacrifice had been intended to help Roland bring Heaven into being, then reflected on Claudia Ordesia and fell from the stairs.
• Kirei Kotomine’s body dissolved into light, and his soul became a new DISC that flew into Roland’s hand.
• Roland thanked Kirei and asked Shiki Ryougi to kill Araya Souren as a farewell to their friend.
• Shiki Ryougi concentrated until she saw the lines of death around the Buddha Bone Relic embedded in Araya Souren’s chest.